SourceItchmo has confirmed with Natural Balance that their recall has expanded and now covers the following items for all dates:
Venison and Brown Rice Treats for Dogs (New today)
Venison and Brown Rice Canned Formula for Dogs (New today)
Venison and Brown Rice Dry Food for Dogs (Reported Sunday)
Venison and Green Pea Dry Food for Cats (Reported Sunday)
The problem stems from melamine found in the rice protein concentrate (described by the company as rice gluten) used by Natural Balance. They confirmed that FDA testing has found melamine in the rice protein concentrate. The ingredient was produced by a US vendor, according to Natural Balance. Natural Balance recommends avoiding all rice protein in their products.
They have also confirmed that customers are reporting “a few cases” of kidney failures, which their original announcement described as “kidney problems”.[/b]
At this point, I'm not sure I believe anyone's claims about anything that sounds too good to be true.
Ugh.Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.
Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics
Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.
Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.
These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.
For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught -- many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.
Now the confluence of two events -- the highly publicized contamination of U.S. chicken, pork and fish with tainted Chinese pet food ingredients and this week's resumption of high-level economic and trade talks with China -- has activists and members of Congress demanding that the United States tell China it is fed up.
Dead pets and melamine-tainted food notwithstanding, change will prove difficult, policy experts say, in large part because U.S. companies have become so dependent on the Chinese economy that tighter rules on imports stand to harm the U.S. economy, too.[/b]
Recall Expansion: Menu Adds Two More to Canadian List (Itchmo)Itchmo readers and PetsitUSA found out that the contaminated Nutra Nuggets were sold at Costco locations in CA, WA, OR, AZ, and NV.[/b]
If anyone is interested in viewing gross and microscopic photos, along with spectrographs, of these crystals, here's a good compilation from the University of Guelph.Testing on fish imported from China for human consumption found melamine — but not antibiotic residues. And as far as I can tell, no one is acting like it’s that big of a deal, even though it’s my understanding based on the FDA/USDA media briefings I’ve been at since this all began that no meat or fish has previously tested positive for melamine.[/b]
